Brian Appel
Brian Jonathan Appel was born in Montreal, Quebec and studied at Université de Sherbrooke, receiving his BA in History in 1974, and Concordia University, receiving his BEd and then his MEd in History in 1978. Appel was a History teacher at Bialik High School in Montreal from 1978 until his election as the Member of the Quebec National Assembly for the riding of D'Arcy-McGee in 1985. In 1987, he was appointed to the Cabinet of Premier Robert Bourassa as the Minister of Education. Appel was defeated by the Equality Party Leader, Robert Libman, in the 1989 election in the wave of backlash against the Bourassa Government's invoking of the Notwithstanding Clause to override a Supreme Court ruling overturning parts of Bill 101. Following his defeat, Appel returned to Bialik High School in a teaching position with no intention of ever returning to politics. However, following the fracturing of the Equality Party and after much encouragement from friends and family, Appel re-entered political life and won the Quebec Liberal nomination to run in the next election for D'Arcy-McGee. Appel easily defeated Robert Libman in the 1994 election, re-capturing the seat that he'd held from 1985 to 1989, however the Quebec Liberal Government was defeated and replaced by Jacques Parizeau and the Parti Quebecois. Appel continued on the Opposition frontbench in a variety of Critic posts from 1994 until federal Progressive Conservative Party Leader, Jean Charest, took over the Quebec Liberal Party in 1998 and Appel was returned to the backbench. Following the 1998 election, where Appel was re-elected with over 90% of the vote, Appel decided to make the jump to federal politics and was elected in a byelection in 1999 to replace the longtime MP for the federal riding of Mount Royal, Sheila Finestone, who was appointed to the Senate by Prime Minister Jean Chretien. Appel was immediately appointed to the Chretien Cabinet, first as the Minister of State (Post-secondary Education) and then, in 2001, as the Minister of Human Resources Development. In September 2002, Appel declared his intention to seek the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada from the retiring Jean Chretien and won it at the Edmonton Convention on the first ballot with 50.2% of the delegate votes. Personal life Brian Appel has been married to Shoshannah Goldblum since 1983 and they have two children together, Joseph (born 1985) and Karen (born 1987). They own a home in the Town of Hampstead, on the Island of Montreal, but live at the Prime Minister's residence at 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa, Ontario. Electoral History 2000 federal election: Mount Royal (2000/11/27) 'APPEL, Brian, Lib, 33,118, 81.2% ' GELGOOT, Stephane, P.C., 2,489, 6.1% HOULE, Jean-Sebastien, B.Q., 1,740, 4.2% GABANSKI, Alex, CA, 1,444, 3.5% CHÁVEZ, Maria Pia, N.D.P., 1,034, 2.5% BALU, Jean-Claude, G.P., 681, 1.6% CHAFOYA, Judith, Comm., 140, 0.3% KAHN, Ena, N.L.P., 122, 0.2% By-election: Mount Royal (1999/11/15) 'APPEL, Brian, Lib, 15,820, 91.9% ' ALEXANDER, Noel Earl, P.C., 648, 3.7% ALARIE, Mathieu, B.Q., 385, 2.2% GRANGER, Serge, N.D.P., 347, 2.0% 1998 Quebec provincial election: D'Arcy-McGee (1998/11/30) 'APPEL, Brian, P.L.Q., 29,065, 90.6% ' KING, Bernard, E.P., 1,397, 4.4% GAUDETTE, Jean-Claude, P.Q., 1,002, 3.1% BRISSON, Norman, A.D.Q., 400, 1.2% WEIZFELD, Abraham, P.D.S., 135, 0.4% KAHN, Ena, P.L.N.Q., 77, 0.2% 1994 Quebec provincial election: D'Arcy-McGee (1994/09/12) 'APPEL, Brian, P.L.Q., 21,325, 65.4% ' LIBMAN, Robert, S.D., 10,056, 30.8% NORMANDIN, François, P.Q., 1,084, 3.3% KAHN, Ena, P.L.N.Q., 157, 0.5% 1989 Quebec provincial election: D'Arcy-McGee (1989/09/25) LIBMAN, Robert, E.P., 15,746 57.8% 'APPEL, Brian, P.L.Q., 9,677 35.5% ' CARRAIRE, Jacques, P.Q., 829, 3.0% FELS, Harriett, P.V.Q., 532, 1.9% ZIMMERMAN, Carol, IND, 262, 1.0% SCHULZE, David Alexander, N.P.D.Q., 173, 0.6% 1985 Quebec provincial election: D'Arcy-McGee (1985/12/02) 'APPEL, Brian, P.L.Q., 22,799, 91.4% ' BOUGIE, Richard, P.Q., 1,127, 4.5% YAMPOLSKY, Heather, N.P.D.Q., 937, 3.8% RIVEST, Jocelyn, P.S.C., 67, 0.3%